Education Sciences

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14 pages, 2109 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Industry 4.0 Diagnosis from an iMillennial Educational Perspective

by Gabriela Beatrice Cotet, Nicoleta Luminita Carutasu and Florina Chiscop

Educ. Sci. 2020, 10(1), 21; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci10010021 - 16 Jan 2020

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 6585

Although the new economic paradigm is based on the rapid evolution of technology, it is not clear if this evolution is only dependent on a spectacular transformation of human resources or if the evolution of human resources has imposed major changes at a [...] Read more.

Although the new economic paradigm is based on the rapid evolution of technology, it is not clear if this evolution is only dependent on a spectacular transformation of human resources or if the evolution of human resources has imposed major changes at a technical level as well. The main focus of this paper is to identify how to cope with these new technologies as educational actors, using a diagnosis of contemporary generation characteristics. The fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) imposes a rapid evolution (or revolution) of the human resources paradigm in engineering: iMillennials should adapt to that paradigm, and the paradigm should be adapted to them. The research objectives were to identify some relevant characteristics of iMillennials’ technological background and to create a map of the abilities of this generation as required by the evolution of new technologies. For a batch of students with a technical background, two psychological inventories that describe emotional intelligence and motivation acquisition were applied. Each inventory used focuses on certain features that describe motivational achievement (AMI) or emotional intelligence (EQ-I). Besides the motivational features, the AMI questionnaire also refers to socio-emotional abilities. A correlation between the parameters of the two inventories occurred. Three correlated parameters (assertiveness, reality testing, and commitment) were identified. Based on these results, a constellation map of soft skills was designed to match characteristic features of iMillennials with necessary competencies for an Industry 4.0 environment. Furthermore, this paper proposes a tool for educational actors to cope with these transformations based on the new technologies of Industry 4.0 and the characteristics of the iMillennials generation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for the Professions in Times of Change )

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27 pages, 307 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Preparation of Stewards with the Mastery Rubric for Stewardship: Re-Envisioning the Formation of Scholars and Practitioners

by Christopher M. Rios, Chris M. Golde and Rochelle E. Tractenberg

Educ. Sci. 2019, 9(4), 292; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9040292 - 9 Dec 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3881

Abstract

A steward of the discipline was originally defined as “someone who will creatively generate new knowledge, critically conserve valuable and useful ideas, and responsibly transform those understandings through writing, teaching, and application”. This construct was articulated to support and strengthen doctoral education. The [...] Read more.

A steward of the discipline was originally defined as “someone who will creatively generate new knowledge, critically conserve valuable and useful ideas, and responsibly transform those understandings through writing, teaching, and application”. This construct was articulated to support and strengthen doctoral education. The purpose of this paper is to expand the construct of stewardship so that it can be applied to both scholars and non-academic practitioners, and can be initiated earlier than doctoral education. To accomplish and justify this, we describe a general developmental trajectory supporting cross-curriculum teaching for stewardship of a discipline as well as of a profession. We argue that the most important features of stewardship, comprising the public trust for the future of their discipline or profession, are obtainable by all practitioners, and are not limited to those who have completed doctoral training. The developmental trajectory is defined using the Mastery Rubric construct, which requires articulating the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to be targeted with a curriculum; recognizable stages of performance of these KSAs; and performance level descriptors of each KSA at each stage. Concrete KSAs of stewardship that can be taught and practiced throughout the career (professional or scholarly) were derived directly from the original definition. We used the European guild structure’s stages of Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master for the trajectory, and through a consensus-based standard setting exercise, created performance level descriptors featuring development of Bloom’s taxonometric cognitive abilities (see Appendix A) for each KSA. Together, these create the Mastery Rubric for Stewardship (MR-S). The MR-S articulates how stewardly behavior can be cultivated and documented for individuals in any disciplinary curriculum, whether research-intensive (preparing “scholars”) or professional (preparing members of a profession or more generally for the work force). We qualitatively assess the validity of the MR-S by examining its applicability to, and concordance with professional practice standards in three diverse disciplinary examples: (1) History; (2) Statistics and Data Science; and (3) Neurosciences. These domains differ dramatically in terms of content and methodologies, but students in each discipline could either continue on to doctoral training and scholarship, or utilize doctoral or pre-doctoral training in other professions. The MR-S is highly aligned with the practice standards of all three of these domains, suggesting that stewardship can be meaningfully cultivated and utilized by those working in or outside of academia, supporting the initiation of stewardship prior to doctoral training and for all students, not only those who will earn PhDs or be scholars first and foremost. The MR-S can be used for curriculum development or revision in order to purposefully promote stewardship at all levels of higher education and beyond. The MR-S renders features of professional stewardship accessible to all practitioners, enabling formal and informal, as well as self-directed, development and refinement of a professional identity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for the Professions in Times of Change )

14 pages, 373 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Reimagining the Place of the Professional, before It Is too Late: Five Dystopias and an Oxymoron?

by Linda Clarke

Educ. Sci. 2019, 9(4), 272; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9040272 - 14 Nov 2019

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3240

Abstract

The trustworthiness and expertise of professionals is much in demand even while they are derided as members of slippery, credentialized and self-serving elites. Eliot Friedson’s three ‘logics’ provide a contextual lens for this deconstruction of ‘professional’ and are updated by adding Artificial Intelligence [...] Read more.

The trustworthiness and expertise of professionals is much in demand even while they are derided as members of slippery, credentialized and self-serving elites. Eliot Friedson’s three ‘logics’ provide a contextual lens for this deconstruction of ‘professional’ and are updated by adding Artificial Intelligence (AI) as putative fourth logic to provide a contextual background—so, Markets, Bureaucracy and AI are seen as alternatives to and influences on professionalism. This context suggests that it may already be too late to save ‘professionals’, but them paper confronts a significant conceptual deficit by using a second interdisciplinary lens, Clarke’s Place Model, to critically deconstruct the ‘place’ of professionals to reimagine a commodious and accessible conceptualization, consisting of five dystopias and a potentially potent oxymoron—inclusive professional. The Place Model is presented as an example of a Geographical Imagination (Massey), combining two conceptions of ‘place’: place as esteem and place as a changing position on the expanding horizons of a career-long growth of expertise. This novel conceptualization is then used to examine the dystopias and potential ideals of ‘professional’. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for the Professions in Times of Change )

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13 pages, 556 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Connecting Status and Professional Learning: An Analysis of Midwives Career Using the Place© Model

by Patricia Gillen

Educ. Sci. 2019, 9(4), 256; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9040256 - 17 Oct 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3895

Abstract

This paper seeks to deconstruct the place of midwives as professionals using the novel interdisciplinary lens of the Place Model—an innovative analytical device which originated in education and has been previously applied to both teachers and teacher educators. The Place Model allows us [...] Read more.

This paper seeks to deconstruct the place of midwives as professionals using the novel interdisciplinary lens of the Place Model—an innovative analytical device which originated in education and has been previously applied to both teachers and teacher educators. The Place Model allows us to map the metaphorical professional landscape of the midwife and to consider how and where midwives are located in the combined context of two senses of place: in the sociological sense of public esteem and also the humanistic geography tradition of place as a cumulative process of professional learning. A range of exemplars will bring this map to life uncovering both the dystopias and potentially utopian places in which midwives find their various professional places in the world. The Model can be used to help student midwives to consider and take charge of their learning and status trajectories within the profession. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for the Professions in Times of Change )

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7 pages, 177 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Changing by the Click: The Professional Development of UK Journalists

by Colm Murphy

Educ. Sci. 2019, 9(4), 249; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9040249 - 26 Sep 2019

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3353

Abstract

Changes in technology, audience engagement, the business model and ethical requirements have greatly expanded the skills required to be a professional journalist in the UK. At the same time, the esteem in which the profession is held by the public has diminished. This [...] Read more.

Changes in technology, audience engagement, the business model and ethical requirements have greatly expanded the skills required to be a professional journalist in the UK. At the same time, the esteem in which the profession is held by the public has diminished. This research used the UK journalism profession as a case study of change in a profession. It asked what were the changes in the profession since 2012. The research method includes an in-depth survey of 885 UK journalists, two previous similar surveys, interviews with stakeholders, national data and documentation. The study finds that UK journalist numbers, their educational attainment and workload has increased significantly in the period. The majority have become multiplatform journalists—working across at least two mediums like print and online. There has been a significant shift of job roles from traditional newsroom to a wide range of other organizations and some 36% of journalists are now self-employed. Diversity continues to be an issue with the profession having a white middle-class bias. The implications of these changes for future professional UK journalism education were then analyzed. They include the need to develop a national continuous professional development framework, better cooperation amongst competing accrediting bodies to enhance the public trust in journalists and greater flexibility on the professional pathways to senior qualifications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for the Professions in Times of Change )

11 pages, 217 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Silence, Exile, and Cunning of “I”: An Analysis of Bildungsroman as the Place Model in the Work of Charlotte Brontë and James Joyce

by Kathryn White and Frank Ferguson

Educ. Sci. 2019, 9(4), 248; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9040248 - 24 Sep 2019

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3817

Abstract

Education, be that on a moral, social or intellectual level, in a formal setting or via lived experience is Bildungsroman’s raison d’être. ‘Moments of crisis’ and the resultant demonstration of the journey towards awareness of personal autonomy, agency, identity and place [...] Read more.

Education, be that on a moral, social or intellectual level, in a formal setting or via lived experience is Bildungsroman’s raison d’être. ‘Moments of crisis’ and the resultant demonstration of the journey towards awareness of personal autonomy, agency, identity and place are discussed via geographical imagination. This article examines ‘fictional’ teachers, the impact of the ‘professional’ on formative development and how the fictional characters of Jane Eyre and Stephen Dedalus fit within and extend the Place Model. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for the Professions in Times of Change )

23 pages, 392 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Towards Professionalism and Police Legitimacy? An Examination of the Education and Training Reforms of the Police in the Republic of Ireland

by Jeremy Thompson and Brian Payne

Educ. Sci. 2019, 9(3), 241; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9030241 - 17 Sep 2019

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 9347

Abstract

In this paper, we present a thought piece examining recent core policing reforms introduced in the Republic of Ireland (ROI), responding to a perceived crisis of legitimacy, for An Garda Síochána (AGS) (translated: ‘The Guardian of the Peace’). Central to this process is [...] Read more.

In this paper, we present a thought piece examining recent core policing reforms introduced in the Republic of Ireland (ROI), responding to a perceived crisis of legitimacy, for An Garda Síochána (AGS) (translated: ‘The Guardian of the Peace’). Central to this process is the critical reform of the education and training of police and their relationship to the professionalisation and legitimacy of policing. In this paper, we put forward an explorative analysis of the potential link between the professional education of police and their perceived legitimacy. A literature review was carried out on the reform process, including the related elements of police education, training, professionalisation, community policing, police legitimacy, code of ethics (CoE) and police culture. We consider the espoused ambition to professionalise policing via processes including the provision of professional learning in universities and how this might be deemed to contribute (or not) to legitimacy. While no empirical research to date has been carried out on these specific reforms in the ROI, the reform recommendations had several resonances with broader examination of the themes and challenges (in particular police ethics and culture) associated with reform of democratic policing in other jurisdictions, particularly with respect to increasing professional learning and perceived police legitimacy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for the Professions in Times of Change )

19 pages, 3126 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Even When No One Is Looking: Students’ Perceptions of Social Work Professions. A Case Study in a Northern Ireland University

by Denise MacDermott

Educ. Sci. 2019, 9(3), 233; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9030233 - 4 Sep 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 5613

Abstract

Public perceptions, increased scrutiny and successive governments’ reshaping and attempting to define what is and what is not social work has eroded the progressive and radical force of the profession. This article explores how students’ perceive the profession and presents evidence from a [...] Read more.

Public perceptions, increased scrutiny and successive governments’ reshaping and attempting to define what is and what is not social work has eroded the progressive and radical force of the profession. This article explores how students’ perceive the profession and presents evidence from a small-scale study conducted in a Northern Ireland University with 37 undergraduate social work students and 25 postgraduate student social workers (training-as-practice educators) on their perceptions of the characteristics of a professional social worker. A quantitative research design was used, consisting of a face-to-face survey distributed to respondents following an input on the Place Model, (Clarke, 2016). Respondents also shared their perceptions in relation to Freidson’s (2001) three logics: professionalism, bureaucracy and the free market, with Ternary graphs and word clouds used as a novel way to present this data. Several themes emerged as important characteristics of social work professionals including reliability, accountability, ethics and appearance. At the other end of the scale, respondents identified unprofessional, de-personalised and cynical as the least aspirational qualities of the profession. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for the Professions in Times of Change )

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8 pages, 379 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Focusing on the Place Model for Optometrists

by Julie F McClelland and Karen Breslin

Educ. Sci. 2019, 9(3), 193; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9030193 - 22 Jul 2019

Viewed by 2889

Abstract

Background: The Place Model was developed in order to conceptualize the various roles and career pathways of the teaching profession. It can be used to evaluate long-term professional career trajectories and to encourage the student-teacher to visualize their future personal and professional development. [...] Read more.

Background: The Place Model was developed in order to conceptualize the various roles and career pathways of the teaching profession. It can be used to evaluate long-term professional career trajectories and to encourage the student-teacher to visualize their future personal and professional development. Methods: In the present study, the Place Model has been applied to the Optometric profession. The four categories of the place model have been discussed in terms of Optometry and a survey of undergraduate Optometrists highlights the perception of the model amongst pre-qualified professionals. Results: The majority of participants placed qualified optometrists in the Professional area on the Place Model (87%, n = 88) with the remainder placing qualified optometrists in the De-Professional area on the Place Model (13%, n = 13). There was no statistically significant difference between responses from male and female participants (t-test, p = 0.38). There was also no statistically significant difference between responses from participants in year 1, 2 or 3 of their undergraduate program (one-way analysis of variance [ANOVA], p = 0.10). Conclusion: The Place Model may be an opportunity to discuss with Optometry students their future career pathways and to ensure that we maintain a highly skilled and caring profession that provides high quality eyecare for the public. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for the Professions in Times of Change )

13 pages, 1301 KiB

Open AccessArticle

All Animals Learn, but Only Humans Teach: The Professional Place of Teacher Educators

by Linda Clarke and Paul McFlynn

Educ. Sci. 2019, 9(3), 192; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9030192 - 22 Jul 2019

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3940

Abstract

The profession that creates all other professions has been subject to much debate in recent years. Largely invisible at times, teacher educators have recently been visible mainly in the negative headlines which have surrounded attempts to disrupt this important, but often unsung, profession [...] Read more.

The profession that creates all other professions has been subject to much debate in recent years. Largely invisible at times, teacher educators have recently been visible mainly in the negative headlines which have surrounded attempts to disrupt this important, but often unsung, profession in order to introduce neoliberal reforms. This paper uses both Eliot Freidson’s three logics (adding artificial intelligence as a fourth logic) and Clarke’s Place Model to deconstruct and map the contested place of the teacher educator in respect of status and career-long learning journey. The question, ‘who is my teacher education professional’? is addressed, highlighting the complexity surrounding teacher educators’ roles and realms. In a world where many animals learn but only humans teach, teaching teachers is poorly recognised for the singularly inclusive profession it might be. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for the Professions in Times of Change )

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22 pages, 331 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Role and Scope Coverage of Speech-Related Professionals Linked to Neuro-Advancements within the Academic Literature and Canadian Newspapers

by Valentina Villamil and Gregor Wolbring

Educ. Sci. 2019, 9(2), 98; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9020098 - 8 May 2019

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4523

Abstract

Speech-related professionals such as speech language pathologists (SLPs) and audiologists make use of neuro-advancements including neurotechnologies such as cochlear implants (CIs), brain-computer interfaces, and deep brain stimulation. Speech-related professionals could occupy many roles in relation to their interaction with neuro-advancements reflecting the roles [...] Read more.

Speech-related professionals such as speech language pathologists (SLPs) and audiologists make use of neuro-advancements including neurotechnologies such as cochlear implants (CIs), brain-computer interfaces, and deep brain stimulation. Speech-related professionals could occupy many roles in relation to their interaction with neuro-advancements reflecting the roles expected of them by their professional organizations. These roles include: service provider, promoter of neuro-products such as CIs, educator of others, neuro-related knowledge producer and researcher, advocates for their fields and their clients in relation to neuro-advancements, and influencers of neuro-policy, neuroethics and neuro-governance discussions. Lifelong learning, also known as professional development, is used as a mechanism to keep professionals up to date on knowledge needed to perform their work and could be used to support the fulfillment of all the roles in relation to neuro-advancements. Using 300 English language Canadian newspapers and academic articles from SCOPUS and the 70 databases of EBSCO-Host as sources, we found that the neuro-advancement content linked to speech-related professionals centered around CIs and brain computer interfaces, with other neuro-technologies being mentioned much less. Speech-related professionals were mostly mentioned in roles linked to clinical service provision, but rarely to not at all in other roles such as advocate, researcher or influencer of neuroethics and neuro-governance discussions. Furthermore, lifelong learning was not engaged with as a topic. The findings suggest that the mentioning of and engagement with roles of speech-related professionals linked to neuro-advancements falls short given the expectations of roles of speech-related professionals for example. We submit that these findings have implications for the education of speech-related professionals, how others perceive the role and identity of speech-related professionals, and how speech-related professionals perceive their own role. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for the Professions in Times of Change )

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